Mets Closer Thoughts + Pitch or Ditch for Thursday (7/14)

Hey everyone,

No setting lineups and no checking box scores. I’m sure the past few days have been very strange for all of you. And they have been very strange for me too, but I’ve kind of enjoyed it. I know that many “fantasy experts” say to use this time to evaluate your roster and think about potential trades, but it’s also nice to simply take a breather. On Monday morning, I challenged myself to avoid even looking at any of my teams until tonight, but thanks to the Mets’ decision to trade Francisco Rodriguez to the Brewers, I found myself staring at my computer screen a little after midnight last night trying to decide whether or not Jason Isringhausen was worth a pickup. Ultimately, I decided against it as I had very little roster room and already owned Bobby Parnell, but if you can it’s not a bad idea to grab both of these guys. Isringhausen has the closing experience but Parnell has the upside and the Mets might as well give him a look if they are truly raising the white flag on this season. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Izzy gets dealt. I think it’s safe to drop K-Rod if there’s someone on the wire who can help you now. The Brewers aren’t going to let Rodriguez reach the 55 games finished mark and John Axford has been doing a solid job this year. If you’re desperate for saves, maybe hang onto K-Rod as he might register a handful of them by season’s end. But otherwise, cut bait.

The K-rod trade really hurt me as Kimbrel and K-rod and Guerra are my only closers with brox on my dl. someone picked up parnell last night as soon as the trade went down and i lost out on that chance. there are really no save opportunities on the wire right now so should i just sit still and hope he gets me a few or try to trade a bat for a closer? this is a keeper league and its hard to trade with these guys because they all value their players a little too high sometimes. I was offered wilson and valverde but the guy wanted pujols and rasmus in return which im not going to do of course. ugh and here i call the mets my favorite team.

First, if Isringhausen hasn’t been picked up already I’d add him. But I do think you probably need to make a trade for a closer now as Guerra is a very shaky #2. Obviously, that Wilson/Valverde offer is crazy but see what’s out there. You don’t really need an elite guy…just a solid #2 type.

Thanks, Zach. I’ve thought of a trade I’d like to get going, just not sure if it’s a fair one. Found a guy in my league who can spare a SS and OF and needs pitching. I’m going to send him Ubaldo and Dempster and ask for Stanton and Yunel Escobar. He’s got Rollins and plenty of OFs to cover it. Decent trade or no?

hey do you think Chapman may get save chances? Have him as a hold guy right now but with the Axford situation curious? Who do you think will be more productive for ROS Travis Snyder or Ryan Roberts? Roberts was just dropped and I recently picked up Snyder as a 5th outfielder as well as bonifacio who is also playing for Reyes at this time

I do think that Chapman is worth a speculative pickup in 12-team mixed leagues but it remains to be seen whether he’ll get a meaningful number of saves by year’s end. Cordero still seems to have a fairly long leash but it’s certainly getting shorter by the day now.

I wouldn’t worry about this too much. I still think Axford will get almost all of the save chances and wouldn’t even think about dropping him. But why not pick up Salas anyway? It would be nice to have both if possible.

It’s the halfway mark.i’m 4th in avg.2nd in hr,2nd in rbis,3rd in sbs, 2nd in saves, 2nd in wins but 5th in both era and whip.I’m in 2nd place with 62.50.the guy in first is at 69.50.I’m thinking of making a move for an elite starting pitcher.i’m looking to move justin upton for an elite starter.Is this smart? or should i stay with the guys i have and hope that waiver guys available like garza,capuano(i like him?),danks,buerhle,harang can be consistent options in the 2nd half.for me. My team looks like this.
2C’s- Mcann, Weiters
1B-Fielder
2b-Espinosa
3b-Peralta
SS-Tulowitzki
MI- Kinsler
CI-Freeman
OF’s- J.Upton,B.J Upton, Lo-mo,Crisp,Morse
Util-Jeter Bench:-Arod
Pitchers:- Baker,Beachy, Tim Hudson,Marcum,Buchholz,Colon,Zimmerman(innings limit),Stauffer.
Closers:-Nunez,Salas,Santos,Walden,Rauch,Axford

Honestly, I’d lean towards standing pat. If Marcum can right the ship and if Buchholz pitches well down the stretch (both ifs very possible) your staff plus some waiver wire guys would be good enough. I think the loss of Upton would hurt you too much.

Hey Zach, desperate for more power and RBIs in one league and was thinking of trading Utley, as he doesn’t seem to be the power hitter of old anymore but still should have good name value. Was thinking of offering him straight up for Espinosa or A-Cab, would you do it for either of these guys? Am 3rd in AVG so reckon I can take the hit with a guy like Espinosa. Thanks

Hey 411,
13 team,6 keeper, roto mixed league( kinda irrelevent to the question,) but looking at the prospect of losingmy #4 pick Heath Bell as my primary saves man.I have Mike Adams in my team also who it seems is going to have the job next. My saves are 15 behind but my holds are only 2. Would it be a good idea to simply hold Heath, use him for holds in place of Adams and maybe steal some saves. RE-Placing Mike as my closer to try and run the saves categorie up? Was thinking to try and trade Heath, but the word is out he may be traded. Drop him on the trading block and see if I can have someone offer something of value for extra saves to add to Mike’s?

Cheers fellas,
G

PS..Bells slide looked sweet in the Allstar game, but heart was in my throat he may hurt himself!!

Well, it looks like you can gain more points in holds than saves anyway so I’d be more inclined to keep Bell. And remember, it’s also possible he goes to a team that would use him as a closer, so either way he would be making a significant contribution to your team when we factor in his elite-quality ERA and WHIP. If you get overwhelmed by an offer that’s one thing. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to trade him at less than fair value.

Hey Big Z, getting tired of Russell Martin’s lack of production as my catcher in one league, would you drop him for Wilson Ramos or Posada? Don’t know much about Ramos but isn’t he meant to be a decent prospect? Been hitting pretty well recently too.

If it’s a choice between the old guy and the young guy, I nearly always like to take the young guy with upside, just wanna check how much upside he has first though.

Ramos is hitting well of late but keep in mind that he batted just .216 in June and .167 in May after a hot April, so he’s been very streaky. He’s only 23 though and does sport a solid Minor League track record, so he isn’t a bad pickup. I tend to be conservative and often put a lot of stock into experience, so I’d probably stick with Martin, who also hits in a far superior lineup. But feel free to grab Ramos if you’re an upside guy.

Im not a pro at this like Zach, but id say Martin is having a pretty good year. Unless you have McCann then Catcher numbers arent going to be monumental anyways. Id say he is on pace for 15-18 HR 60-65 RBI 12-14 steals and he walks just about as much as he strikes out. I have him as my catcher and I wouldnt take either one of those guys you mentioned over him. just my 2 cents..

Hey Zach…hope you are doing well. What are your thoughts on Scherzer for the rest of the season? He’s still striking out batters, which is a good sign, but he gets hit a lot.
Please pick two out of the following for ROS: Scherzer, Beachy, Vogelsong, Baker, and Villanueva.
Thanks!

I’m not giving up on Scherzer. I’ve seen too many games over the years where he’s been dominant and remember that he was great in the second half last year (2.47 ERA). From now through the end of the season, my two picks would be Scherzer and Beachy with Baker a close third.

I’m fine with you trading Morse as you’re obviously not going to play him over any of your three starting outfielders. But I don’t think the unproven Humber is a great trade target. If anything, he’s a sell-high guy who happens to be coming off a terrible start. Trading for Humber at this point is asking for trouble as he’s due for a stats correction. Odds are you’ll be stuck with him for the worst part of his season. The best part is almost certainly in the rear-view mirror.

An owner in my league has been trying all year to deal Crawford. He wants to package Crawford and Billingsly to get a better SP. So I offered him Rasmus and A.Sanchez for Crawford and Billingsly. What do you think of that offer? would you make that deal or would you have offered less seeing that Crawford is on the DL? This is a keeper league!

well right before i accepted the deal the owner changed his mind and now hes wants to do Crawford Billingsly and Buchholtz for Rasmus Morrow and Anibal. Im thinking Crawford would be an upgrade from rasmus if he can just get it going but im not sure about the rest of the deal. morrow has been better and anibal has been shakey while billingsly has had somewhat of a bad year so far but has been good as of late and buchholtz started to put it all together and then went on the dl. any idea when buch or crawford are due back?

Not in love with that one. I consider Anibal to be the best pitcher in this deal and would have a hard time parting with him. If Anibal and one of Buchholz/Billingsley were taken out of the deal, I’d do it. Otherwise, I’d pass.

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